Luck with David's Vacation Club?

JusticeDisney

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I have family who are currently in their queue for the Beach Club Villas next summer. Never dealt with them before, so I was just wondering, for those of you who have, has it always worked out for you? Or have you had experiences where availability was gone before David's was able to secure your reservation?

Just curious as to how optimistic we should be.

Thanks!
 

Herdman

Well-Known Member
We used David's for the first time for our trip in May 2018. They were able to get us a Studio-Savannah view room at the AKL on the first day of the 11 month window. So far everything has run as advertised. Hoping there are no hiccups when our ADR window opens in November.
 

Weather_Lady

Well-Known Member
It all depends on the number of points you need, the inventory of the room category you want, the popularity of that time of year (from what I understand, the fall is a prime DVC reservation time, due to the Epcot Food and Wine festival), and of course, whether a member with the right points/home resort happens to have listed with David's at the time your reservation request is pending. However, our history with David's has been largely successful:

- Fall 2014 visit (moderate crowd week, mid-October): 5-night rental, 2-BR villa at Wilderness Lodge: Made request to David's at 11 months. No immediate members with the points, but we joined their virtual queue and got our reservation through David's about 3 weeks later.

- Fall 2016 visit (moderate crowd week, 2 weeks before Thanksgiving): wanted a 6-night rental for a value studio at Animal Kingdom Lodge. Made request to David's at 11 months. No members with the needed points, and availability for those studios (there are only a handful of them) was gone within a few weeks. David's notified us of this so we didn't wait around needlessly any further. They offered us alternatives (OKW and SS), but we opted to forego renting DVC points altogether and book a standard room in a moderate instead: that deal ended up being sweeter, as free dining was ultimately offered during our stay. I suspect that if we'd been willing to upgrade our reservation request to a different room category at AKL with a higher inventory and a higher point cost (e.g., standard studio, savannah view...) we'd have been able to get a reservation, but we weren't ready to make that leap.

- Upcoming Spring 2018 visit (moderate crowd week, 3 weeks after Easter): wanted a split stay: 3 nights in a studio at Beach Club, followed by 2 nights in a studio at the Polynesian. Made both requests to David's at 11 months (2 requests, each made 11 months from the respective arrival dates for each resort). No immediate members with the points, so we joined the virtual queue. David's got us the Beach Club reservation within 7 days, and the Polynesian reservation 8 days, after the 11-month mark.
 
Last edited:

correcaminos

Well-Known Member
The earlier you book the better. The rest really depends on room size and location. David's might take a little longer than working with someone directly but not necessarily. Get your requests in early and before the 7 month mark (or 11 for busier times of year) and you should be fine.
 

jaklgreen

Well-Known Member
I have used them twice and they were amazing both times. They work very hard to get the room/dates that you want. Never had an issue and would recommend them.
 

Matt and Kelly

Well-Known Member
Before we became DVC members earlier this year we used David's to book accommodation at the Poly last year. We put in a request around that 7 month mark and had everything secured and confirmed the next day. They were super helpful and I'd totally recommend them to anyone looking to book DVC.
 

oommggitskait

Active Member
The earlier you book the better. The rest really depends on room size and location. David's might take a little longer than working with someone directly but not necessarily. Get your requests in early and before the 7 month mark (or 11 for busier times of year) and you should be fine.

Silly first timer question..
If I want to book 11 months out for a busy time of year, do I actually WAIT until the 11 month mark to put in a request with David's, or do I do it weeks before hand and get added to a list?
 

Weather_Lady

Well-Known Member
Silly first timer question..
If I want to book 11 months out for a busy time of year, do I actually WAIT until the 11 month mark to put in a request with David's, or do I do it weeks before hand and get added to a list?

I like to put it in a few days before so I know it's "ready to go" at the 11-month mark, but you don't really have to. There's no need to put it in much before 11 months, as there's little advantage to being ahead of others that far out. It's unlikely that someone else will be looking for the exact same amount of points, at the same resort, with the same arrival date, as you are, and what David's does is not so much "serve people in order" as "play matchmaker" between members who've listed points, and those waiting for a reservation, to match them up as closely as possible. Think of it as you and other reservation-seekers standing in a side-by-side line in gym class to be chosen for a team, instead of standing in a queue to reach a service desk.
 

828tnt

Well-Known Member
We've used them several times as sellers, and they've been fantastic! Terrific with walking you though any questions you may have too.

One flaw- their jingle while you're on hold lol. Seriously, it's not good. ;)
 

Minthorne

Well-Known Member
Everyone hit it on the head. I’ll just add that studios go first, followed by 2 bedroom then 1 bedroom. Also for these views:

Standard view at BLT
Value view at AK
Standard view at boardwalk

All of these are very difficult to rent regardless of when you try. They all are very limited and owners snag them as soon as they can at 11 months.
 

NelleBelle

Well-Known Member
We just got a 2 bedroom villa at Saratoga Springs for June 2018. Originally I had tried for AKL value 2-bedroom but that was a no-go. The message they sent was that my 2nd choice (SS) had availability but there were no members with the amount of points I needed to rent. I joined the queue and literally got it the next day (today). SS was not one of my favorites but I also didn't want to pay a ton for a villa either (I'm dealing with my DH who would rather stay off-site and save $$, except that this is for our DS 8th-grade graduation gift and he's requested to stay on-site). So we went in order of price. :rolleyes: I'm just happy to be on-site, have a W/D and a kitchen!! :joyfull:
 

slappy magoo

Well-Known Member
I have family who are currently in their queue for the Beach Club Villas next summer. Never dealt with them before, so I was just wondering, for those of you who have, has it always worked out for you? Or have you had experiences where availability was gone before David's was able to secure your reservation?

Just curious as to how optimistic we should be.

Thanks!
Technically none of my business, but since you made the post, was wondering if your family ultimately had any luck or not.
 

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom